A Post-Undertale Tale of Friendship, Intrigue, and Romance
by Mackintosh-14
Summary: It's been ten years since the barrier was broken, and monsters and humans once more live together on the world's surface. You have just received your GED, and are unsure about the next step to take in your life. But with the help of your friends, and a little determination, you might just get there. Sans/Frisk
1. Chapter 1

**Author Note: Obviously, the game is set in a fictional world. Therefore, many details, like nineteen being the legal drinking age in Ebott, are totally up to interpretation. Besides, even if it is set in an alternate version of the US, which is implied, who says this fictional America does not have a lower drinking age?**

 **Besides this, I should make it clear that Frisk is nonbinary and panromantic, but is still struggling with their sexuality. So, technically, in keeping with the canon, you can decide if Frisk is female or male, straight/gay/bi/etc., and so on, but I like to imagine Frisk considers themself to be agender and inclusively romantic because why the heck not.**

 **Enjoy!**

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Looking up at the city hall, beautifully decorated in honour of the 10th Monster Freedom Anniversary (the name was Asgore's idea), you are filled with determination. You sigh, then take a deep breath, and step lightly up the stairs.

"Frisk!" Asgore is . . . selling tickets at the door? You grin awkwardly at him in greeting. "There you are," he says, beaming away. "Our guest of honour. Just don't tell Mettaton." He laughs, but you know he's being completely serious. That robot was, if possible, even more full of himself now that he had his very own game show on the surface world's networks. He was also something of an internet sensation.

You hear a familiar spin on one of your favourite songs, and you know Mettaton's cousin, Nabstablook, must be DJ-ing. Your smile this time is genuine.

"Toriel . . . couldn't make it?" Asgore asks. You shake your head.

"No, she's making preparations for the school trip tomorrow. They're going up to Mt. Ebott, for the history segment on the Underground."

"Right, right," Asgore says, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, anyways, I think I've kept you long enough now, my child. Go on in."

Once you've passed his table, you allow yourself to roll your eyes. He and Toriel both still call you variations of "my child" or "my dear," despite the fact that you turned nineteen last month. Hell, you think, I'm old enough to drink now! But then, maybe they will keep calling you that even when you are on your death bed. You aren't sure if that notion is comforting or disturbing.

"Yoooo!"

You turn to your right and see Monster Kid (aka Joel) holding a cup of punch. You go over to him and pull him into a hug, asking him how he's been.

"Oh," he says, shrugging. "You know. Finishing up my classes, applying to colleges, the norm. And what about you?"

You cringe. You knew someone was going to ask about that. That's all anyone can talk about lately. What is Frisk going to do now that we don't need an ambassador to the humans? They all give you the same expectant look that Monster Kid's giving you now.

You study the table behind him for a moment as you gather your thoughts. It's laden with spaghetti, cinnamon-butterscotch pie, and piles of virtually-untouched spider cider, spider donuts, and spider croissants. The few cheese plates have already been decimated. That's when you realize Monster Kid is still waiting for your reply.

"I have a few plans right now, actually," you lie to him. "I'm just weighing my options, you know?"

You hope that the answer is vaguely satisfying enough to get him off your back, but sure enough, after taking a sip of his punch, he asks another question.

"Are you planning on going to college? I heard you got your GED today . . . "

And there it was. Maybe you should be proud to admit that you managed to balance your job as Monster Ambassador and getting your GED at the same time, but all you've been able to think about is how you're just going to have to take more classes, probably online, to get a degree you can actually _do_ something with. Not to mention you have no clue what you actually want to do.

Monster Kid looks like he knows he struck a nerve, so he mutters some excuse about needing to go to the bathroom, and almost trips as he leaves you alone at the punch table.

You scan the crowd for your friends, but don't spot them. Maybe they didn't come this year, you think. These things are getting pretty old hat. Even the humans don't care anymore. You think you saw a few members of the school board and the mayor, but they basically have to show up. You remember the first anniversary party held here, when you were ten. Everyone had been so excited. There had been talk of making the day a national holiday, even. Nine years later, and nothing. Still, you suppose these things don't happen overnight. Even as monsterkind spread across the world, the only place where nothing changed was here, the city at the foot of the mountain where they had been trapped for so long. Oh, the irony.

That's it, you think, getting up from the chair where you've been sitting for about half an hour now. You've made your obligatory appearance. Time for your vanishing act.

You slip by Asgore easily. He's chatting it up with some older human lady you think you recognize as the weather girl for the local news station, so he doesn't even spot you.

Once outside, with the music now softened to a dull beat, you can breathe. You sink to the steps and lean your head against the cool steel of the staircase railing.

"FRISK! THERE YOU ARE! I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO CALL YOU, MY FRIEND!"

Papyrus's voice is enough to make you look up. He, Sans, Undyne, and Dr. Alphys, are all walking towards you.

"Sorry," you tell him."I guess the music was too loud in there to hear my phone."

"THAT'S OKAY. YOU'RE HERE NOW."

"hey, kiddo," says Sans.

"Hey," you reply. Undyne is grinning at you, so you stand up to give her a big hug. She and Aphys have been away all weekend.

"So," you say to her, "how was the anime convention?"

"OH MY GOD," cries Alphys suddenly. "It was amazing! The best one yet! There were voice actors there, and artists, and I got this pillow, and Undyne and I cosplayed, and I got my tail signed and . . . um . . . yeah. It was good."

She goes quiet and you and Undyne share a knowing look.

"Wow," you say. "I wish I could have gone, guys. It sounds like you had a great time."

"Maybe next year," Undyne says. You nod.

"so anywho," Sans pipes up, "we wanted to ask you if you want to come with us to the bar before heading home."

You frown. "What? Why? There are drinks inside, and dancing."

"YES," says Papyrus, "BUT THERE IS A NEW BAR, FOR GEEKS, THAT WE WANT TO SURPRISE YOU WITH, BECAUSE YOU ARE A BIG DORK TOO AND WE LOVE YOU."

There was an awkward silence. Then, "WHAT. WHAT DID I SAY?"

"oh, nothin'. just try not to spoil it for them, 'kay bro?" Sans winks at you.

"LIKE I WOULD DO SOMETHING SO STUPID. GOD, SANS. WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM, SOME KIND OF NUMB-SKULL? NYEH HEH HEH!"

You start walking with them down the street. "So, you guys know the way?" you ask.

"Well, duh! Onwards!" Undyne cries. She swings her arm around Alphys, who blushes from head to toe.

For some reason, you find yourself thinking back on the day you ran away from home. You went to the mountain, where you heard the stories about kids disappearing, and whispers of an age-old myth. You weren't sure what was up there, and maybe you were scared, just a little, but anything was better than going back into foster care. Of course, if it hadn't been for crazy, determined little nine-year-old you, the monsters might never have broken the barrier. Or at least, they might have never forgiven themselves once they did.

"penny for your thoughts, kid?" Sans bumps you with his shoulder.

"Let me see the penny first," you joke.

"i can pay you back."

You laugh at this. "No you can't."

"maybe not in coins, but i've been told my jokes are comedy gold."

You suppress the laugh, but can't keep a straight face.

"see?" he chuckles. "what did i tell you?"

Giving in, you answer, "I was just thinking about old times. Ten years is a long time for us humans."

"Sure is," Undyne says. "Look at you! All grown up . . . though you aren't that much taller!"

Your cheeks grow hot. "I am so taller!" you protest. "I'm taller than Alphys anyways!"

"H-hey now!" Alphys cried. "Don't you bring me into this, Frisk!"

You all laugh, and amble on in this manner until you reach the bar. You make your way over to an empty booth and slide onto the seats.

Undyne and Alphys are talking excitedly about a new comic book series when a waitress comes by to take your order, and for some reason you're so distracted by them that you fail to realize the girl is talking to you until Papyrus gives you a nudge with his elbow.

"Huh?" You look up and blush. "Oh, sorry. I'll get, um, fries? And the . . . " you peer at the menu's cocktails. "The Sakura Blossom Romance, please?"

You all laugh at the name once the girl has gone away again, and then are quiet for a little while as you take in the scenery and peruse the other menu items. As far as you can tell, the food is only named after video games, animes, and comics. None of it actually made any differently. For instance, the Otaku Cheese is just plain old macaroni. Still, Undyne and Alphys seem to be eating it up, you reflect. They're giggling and pointing out each name to one another.

Watching them, you're suddenly reminded of something else that has been bothering you lately. In all the time you've been travelling around the world to attend debates and conferences and all that, and slowly making your way through your online studies, you haven't had much of a life. You never made any friends in middle school, and you didn't attend high school classes for very long, so you've never actually been to any parties, had any sleepovers, or even dated, outside of your monster friend circle.

Undyne catches you staring at her and Alphys and she frowns. "What's with that look, Frisk? You okay?"

Aw, great. You feel your cheeks heat up again and you look away before she can see. This brilliant plan, of course, fails.

"Woah, woah!" Undyne crows delightedly. "What's this? Was widdle Frisky having naughty thoughts about their favourite girl-on-girl couple?!"

Oh god, you think. The others are staring at you now. "No, not like that. I was just . . . ugh. Nevermind."

Undyne reaches over to punch you in the arm. "Hey, I'm just kidding, pal! What's up?"

Sighing, you shake your head. "You guys just look, well, really cute together. That's all."

"And y-you were j-j-jealous?" Alphys stammers, looking thoroughly shocked. You say nothing, but she continues. "Oh, Frisk, I d-didn't think you cared about any of that sort of, er, thing."

You shrug and pretend to look through the menu again. Across from you, Sans laughs. "i know how you feel. these two are always all over each other, with no thought for us single folk."

You blink. Sans doesn't want to be single either? You thought . . . well, you aren't sure _what_ you thought exactly, but you had never assumed that he wanted romance or a sex life or whatever.

"Gee, I'm sorry, dude," Undyne says. "I had no idea we were that bad." She thinks for a second, then adds, "well, hey. Frisk. You've never really even mentioned having an interest in anyone."

"AHEM."

You all turn to Papyrus. You have a disturbing feeling you know exactly where this is headed.

"ARE YOU FORGETTING SOMEONE? FRISK WAS ONCE COMPELTELY BESOTTED WITH ME, YOU KNOW. WE EVEN HAD A VERY PASSIONATE DATE, FULL OF TENSION AND FLIRTING."

Undyne bursts out laughing, and you aren't sure if you'll ever stop being embarrassed again.

"That's right, Papyrus," Undyne says. "Sorry. It's just that Frisk was pretty young back then, and I'm not sure they knew what dating was, exactly."

"I don't think Papyrus did either," you say, deadpan. Papyrus's jaw drops and his eyes go wide.

"YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT."

You laugh into your hands.

"FRISK, YOU ARE JOKING, YES? WAS THAT DATE NOT THE BEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN ON?"

Since it was, technically, the _only_ date you've ever been on, you nod.

"H-hey now!" Alphys says. "What about our date?"

You roll your eyes at her. "Oh, come on, Alphys. That wasn't even real. You mistakenly thought Undyne's confession was from me, and then we roleplayed you two going out."

Now it's Alphys's turn to blush, and the attention is, thankfully, turned away from you for the time being.

Your drinks arrive, and you hammer yours back before anyone else has had so much as a sip of theirs.

"geez, frisk. you better pace yourself there. you don't want to go BONE-nanas tonight."

"Maybe I do," you mutter.

Sans stares at you, but you avoid his gaze.

"YOU KNOW, THAT REMINDS ME," Papyrus says. "I HAPPEN TO REMEMBER TELLING YOU, AFTER OUR _INCREDIBLE_ DATE, THAT I WOULD HELP YOU SETTLE FOR SOMEONE, IF NOT AS GREAT AS ME, THEN AT LEAST SOMEONE WHO IS SECOND BEST."

"And who would that be?"

Papyrus twists his head around and scans the dance floor. Amidst the flashing lights, you can hardly make out anyone, but Papyrus spots someone and points.

"HOW ABOUT HER? SHE IS VERY PRETTY, AND SHE IS MAKING EYES AT YOU."

Everyone else turns to look, so you follow the direction Papyrus is pointing in.

"Oh damn!" Undyne says. "She is cute!"

Alphys nods excitedly. "And she is definitely looking at you!"

You make eye contact with the girl by the bar. She has long, dark hair, curled to perfection, and a dark lipstick which makes her look like an old-timey actress. Her dress is your favourite shade of blue, and she's wearing kick-ass boots that make her legs look longer than they probably were.

"Go talk to her!" Undyne hisses at you (literally).

"And say what?!" you demand. You're shaking a little.

"Hi, maybe?"

"No. No way. I would need another drink first," you tell her.

She slides her glass over. "You can have mine."

Aw, why the hell not? You slam the drink back, coughing a little at its potency.

"S-so is she your type then?" Aphys asks curiously.

You look back over at the girl. "Well, I guess so. She looks . . . cool. And interesting. And I've got some serious butterflies right now."

"And that she's a she?"

You frown. Has that ever really mattered to you?

"I don't think that's important. I've technically gone out with one male monster and one female monster before, so I guess that makes me ready for anything."

"Well y-yeah, b-but you were nine years old then. Did you even have a crush on either of us?'

You don't answer. You aren't about to explain the history of your crushes. Yes, back then, you might not have fully understood what dating meant, but you've had little crushes on most of your monster friends at one point or another. They were just so cool and awesome. Most humans couldn't really compare, so when you got to be old enough to be allowed to go on real dates, no one had really caught your eye.

You stand up and your friends make dumb little ooh-ing sounds as you make your way through the crowd. The girl is watching you the whole time, and smiling seductively now.

"Hi there," you say when you get close enough for her to hear you over the techno mix being blasted through the speakers. "I'm Frisk."

"Damn," she says. "That's a pretty sweet name. I'm Alice."

You smile, but the confidence it not yours. This bravado is purely alcohol and encouragement from your friends. "You want a drink?"

She nods.

You order two appletinis and start asking Alice about her favourite shows and games. She in turn asks if you've read X or seen Y, and what did you think of the newest update to webcomic Z? You laugh together about the crappy menu names. After a third round of drinks with her, you realize your phone is ringing. You put a finger to one ear and the phone to your other.

"Hello?"

"Frisk?" It was Toriel. "Where are you? It's getting late."

"Sorry," you say, or rather, yell. "I've just gone out for drinks with the gang. I'll be back in an hour or two."

"Okay, dear. Just try not to wake me when you get in. I have that school trip to Mt. Ebott tomorrow."

"I remember!" you yell. "Goodnight! Have fun!"

When you hang up, Alice is grinning at you.

"So," she says. "You were telling me about your monster friends?"

You were? Damn. Maybe you've had one too many drinks. You should slow down.

"Oh. Sorry. Um, remind me where I was in the conversation?"

She laughs, and it's the cutest freaking laugh you've ever heard. "You were trying to explain how magic works."

Yikes. Why were you talking to a stranger (albeit a very cute stranger) about that?

"Well, humans used to be able to use magic too, you know," you say, trying to change the topic slightly. "At least, that's what the history tells us. Seven human magicians were the ones who trapped the monsters underground, under Mt. Ebott."

This topic is not any better.

"But," you say, "that's boring. You probably learned that in history class, huh?"

"Yes, yes, but you were the one who broke the barrier, right?" she asks. "I, um, I've seen you on TV. You were, like, their representative? But you were so young at the time. How did you handle it?"

You try to think of a way to say this without reveaing too much. "It's kind of hard to remember all of the details now. But I fell down there, into the ruins of an underground city. Toriel, the queen, lived there still, and she took care of me. But eventually I wanted to leave, and the more people I met down there, who dreamed of freedom, the more I wanted to help them too. So I had to learn how to protect myself and others to get to the barrier, and to break the spell that kept us all there."

Alice is looking at you in awe. "Wow," she says. "That's amazing. To be so young and have that kind of responsibility. But at the same time, it sounds like something out of a dream."

You nod. It still feels that way to you sometimes. Maybe this is something you can connect to other human beings with. Certainly, it isn't something your friends can fully appreciate. To them, you're still just a well-meaning mortal kid who helped them out. How could they possibly know what it had been like, to be attacked constantly and distrusted, to refuse to fight even when you were near death?

You're getting emotional, and emotions plus alcohol is never a good mix. You think that you should head home soon. Your friends are still sitting at the booth where you left them, smiling at you occasionally.

Your head is swimming, and when Alice comes close to whisper in your ear, you think you might pass out.

"Do you wanna get out of here?"

Crap. You definitely drank too much. You lean back and hold on to the counter for support.

"You okay?" Alice asks. "Do you want to just head home? I can take you."

You think that sounds like a pretty good idea, so you allow her to steer you by the arm over to your friends. She explains that you're tired and have had a bit much, so she's going to walk you home. Papyrus offers to come too, but Alice assures him you'll be fine. Undyne gives her your address and your bag, and you are steered out the bar door.

It's cold. You tell Alice that it's cold, and she puts your jacket around your shoulders.

"I've put my number into your phone, okay?" she tells you. "I'm going to text you tomorrow to check up on you."

You're starting to feel better, actually. You take your phone out to check the time, and figure it's been about an hour since your last drink. Hell, you're actually feeling pretty good. A lot more clear-headed at least. You're losing track of time. How long ago did you leave the bar?

"Did I pay for my food?" you ask. "And my drinks?"

Alice laughs. "You tried, but the lizard lady? With the glasses? She paid for yours, as a present for getting your GED."

You groan. They told Alice you got a GED? Awesome. Now she was gonna judge you for sure.

"Hey," she says, rubbing your shoulder. "It's okay."

Her face is very close. "You're pretty cute," she says, and kisses you on the cheek.

"I . . . I don't think I'm drunk anymore," you say. And it's true. You feel remarkably sober. It's weird.

Alice laughs again. "I know."

"You . . . know?"

She nods. "You remember when you were telling me about the human magicians? Humans can still use magic. Most of them just don't know how. I used a minor healing spell on you just now."

You don't understand. What is she saying? Is she serious?

"Look," she says. As you watch, she snaps her fingers and produces a small ball of fire which floats delicately above her open palm. You step closer, wide-eyed, to examine it, but she waves her hand dismissively and it goes out.

"I can teach you," she says. You start to open your mouth to ask a question, but her mouth closes in on yours before you can get the words out. Then her lips are moving against you, and her hand snakes around your waist to pull you closer. You can feel her breasts against your chest. A thrill of excitement shoots through you, and you kiss her back.

"Hold out your hand," she says, pulling away. You do as she asks.

"This is a spell to keep you safe. Do as I do, and draw this symbol on your hand."

She traces a rune onto her skin, and you do the same.

"Now," she says, and snaps her fingers again. "Snap, and envision a small flame."

You close your eyes, snap your fingers, and . . . holy crap. You can feel heat emanating from above your hand. You open your eyes in shock, but in your excitement, you lose control of the thing and it explodes outward. Flames lick towards your face and you fall backwards, ass hitting the sidewalk below.

Alice is laughing, but not maliciously. Once you realize you aren't actually hurt, you laugh too. This is amazing! You think about learning different spells from Alice, and your friends and . . . you stop laughing.

Sans is standing right behind Alice.

"you think that's funny, do ya? messing with my friends like that?"

Alice spins around, crouching low as her hands light up with fire.

"nice trick," Sans observes. "i can do it too."

His bone fingertips light up with blue flames, which flicker at the sleeves of his hoodie but don't burn them.

"Wait!" you cry, scrambling to your feet. "Don't hurt her! She didn't mean anything by it!"

"get out of here, frisk. i've got this."

"No!" you yell at him. He isn't really going to fight Alice, is he? "Stop it! This overprotective thing is getting really old. I'm not a child anymore!"

"oh, aren't you?" he asks. "so gullible. you don't even know who she is."

Alice shoots a worried look back at you, and you know with a sickening certainty that she is hiding something.

"she's part of a human society meant to monitor monsters, or wipe them out if it comes to it," says Sans.

You gasp. No. It can't be true.

"That's only as a last resort!" Alice says. "We need to be prepared!"

Sans sneers as best he can without the help of skin and facial muscles. "you people know nothing. it's monsters who should be afraid of humans."

With this, he whirls bones about Alice's head, some lit with the blue fire. You have never seen his attack before, though it feels oddly familar, and fills you with a deep dread. Alice, terrified, waves her own magic away and runs for it, down the street and into the night. As soon as she's out of sight, Sans turns to you.

His eyes have gone dark, and blue fire still burns at his bone fingertips. He slams these hands against the wall on either side of your head, and you recoil from him. "is this what you wanted?" he asks in a chilling voice. "you want to play with magic, buddy? my word ain't good enough for you, so you go traipsing off with the worst kind of human scum? what were you thinking? huh?!"

You're shaking, trying to stutter out an answer. You haven't been this scared of him since your first meeting in the Underground, and then again in the MTT Hotel when he admitted that, had it not been for Toriel, you would be dead.

You know he could kill you, easily. Your soul would manifest before you, like it did back then when everything and everyone you met distrusted you and attacked you on sight. A tear slips out of the corner of your eye.

"I'm sorry, Sans," you manage to tell him, your voice quiet and breathy from fear. In a second, the fire goes out, and he takes a step back. He's shaking too, from anger maybe, but he no longer looks like some twisted nightmare version of himself.

"i . . . i'm sorry, kid. i . . . don't . . . know what came over me. i just know . . . all too well . . . what humans are capable of."

You shake your head, and with the movement more tears run down your face, which is burning hot against the cool night air. "And what are you capable of, Sans? What would you . . ." You trail off, unable to speak anymore. Your legs are wobbly, and you sink down the wall a little ways.

Sans takes a step towards you once more, but in the moment you flinch away. If a skeleton could look hurt, then Sans looks broken. Good, you think. Let him know how it feels. The second you've thought it, you regret it, but you're too upset to take it back.

You can't look at him anymore. You stumble away towards the main road that will get you on the bus back to your place. "Don't you dare follow me, Sans!" you yell behind you.

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It's been almost a week since the fight but, somehow, you're still reeling from that night's events.

Your phone is overflowing with messages. Two are from Alice. You listened to them right away, too curious about what she had to say for herself. She admitted that everything Sans accused her of was true, but that she had genuinely grown to like you over the course of the night, and that she thought you had real potential. In the second message, she told you that she would be leaving Ebott soon, and would leave the magic society altogether. "I hope we meet again someday, Frisk," she said, before the machine cut her off.

The rest of the messages in your inbox are mostly from Papyrus, asking when you will forgive his bonehead of a brother, and also "WHAT DID HE DO THIS TIME?" The second to last is from Undyne, with intermittant added comments and words of advice from Alphys, telling you that while they don't know what happened between you two, you shouldn't let such a strong friendship go to waste. You had laughed at that.

The most recent is from Toriel. The teacher's conference had been a great success, apparently, and she would be back later tonight. You've almost called her back about a hundred times already, but you don't know what you would say if she picked up.

Maybe it would be best for everyone if you make up with Sans. Or, at least, pretend to make up. Who says it has to be for real? No, you'll probably leave soon. Suddenly, everything about your life here seems stifling and routine. It was time you got a taste of freedom for yourself.

You're pacing. You stop pacing when you notice this, but this only make you want to pace some more. You can't get the memory of Sans out of your mind, looking for all the world like he could have murdered you. The memory makes your chest get tight all over again, and your eyes are hot like you might cry. In your frustration, you kick a pillow on the ground. It shoots across the room and smacks into the wall.

"I can't do this anymore," you say aloud. "I have to get out of this damn house."

You whip a sweater of yours off the hook by the front door and shrug it on hurriedly, impatient to leave the confines of your home. After living in this town for ten years, you know where to go to be alone, and could draw a map of all the best shortcuts while blindfolded.

You wish you could go back in time, to a save point or something, and redo that night. You would rather you never met Alice than have your best friend hate you. Soon, the rest of your friends would hate you too. There would be no convention next year with Undyne and Alphys, no more sleepovers at Papyrus's and Sans's house, playing video game tournaments and having movie marathons.

Damn it. You're crying again. You smear the tears away with the sleeve of your sweater.

When you get to the bridge in the park, you sit down and sob into your lap. Your feet dangle over the water, and you think you shouldn't have worn such loose shoes. They might fall into the creek, and then you'd be screwed.

"frisk."

Really?

"Oh my god, Sans," you snap at him without looking up. "Can't I just cry on a bridge by myself?"

He laughs. "well, you picked a dumb bridge then. i know this is your favourite spot to be alone."

"Yeah, ' _alone'_ being the main word here!"

He sits down beside you. "i should have apologized right away. but i couldn't. i didn't think that anything i said could have possibly made up for what i did."

Sitting at the bridge with him, you think about your first meeting outside the ruins. When you had turned around to shake his hand, only to have a whoopie cushion deflate in your grip, any fear you had immediately dispelled by a silly skeleton who made a promise to a friend to look out for you.

"look, i know nothing can excuse what i did. i scared you. whether i meant to do so or not, you felt threatened. and i am so, so sorry, frisk. my own fears should not be an excuse for hurting the people i love."

The last word gives you pause. You know what he means, but still. The implication behind the word itself gives you chills.

You hadn't ever told him. You hadn't told any of them. He was your dorky undead friend who loved ketchup and bad puns. You weren't sure why you liked him. You just did. And maybe seeing Alice, joking and using magic and sharing your fries with too much ketchup on them, you had been reminded of him. Try as you might, this crush had never really gone away. Until maybe a few nights ago, when everything you loved about Sans fell away in a matter of seconds and was replaced with an intimate fear of what he could do to you.

Was it even right to like a skeleton? You've imagined kissing him before, but weren't too sure how it would work. Never mind what the bedroom situation would be like. Then again, you weren't sure you wanted it to be like _that_ between you two. You wanted to date him, sure, but sexual attraction was a whole other can of worms you didn't think you could open up just yet. But would he be cool with that? There were just too many problems when you went down this road, so you had tried to dismiss it, to just brush it under the rug and hope it went away. When it hadn't, well, you just did your best to ignore it. And now here you are, with this massive confusion of feelings.

"It isn't fair," you say.

"what isn't fair?" Sans asks.

You sigh. "Ha. Try everything? How I've had to make every single decision about my life on my own, and then the decisions about others' lives as well? How I have to deal with all this now at the same time as trying to figure out what to do with my future when I haven't got a clue?"

Sans says nothing.

You look at him, finally, and he looks back at you. Then (and you aren't sure if you're giving up your anger or if your determination to get what you want is winning out) you lean over and rest your head on his shoulder.

"I don't know what to do," you admit. "Usually, I just pick the option I know to be right, but here . . . I don't know what's right and what's wrong. So how am I supposed to choose?"

"frisk," Sans says slowly. "are you talking about your general future, or our friendship?"

"Both, I think," you answer.

"that's what i thought."

"Why?" You look up at him.

"for what it's worth, i want you to be happy. but at the same time, i'll miss you if you leave."

"Are you talking about my general future?" I ask. "Or our friendship?"

He winks at you. "both."

You bury the side of your face deeper into his hoodie. "I forgive you."

You feel him freeze.

"really?"

You nod, and he hugs you. Your heart is beating so hard you think you can feel it in your throat.

"I know you were scared," you say, voice muffled by the thick material of his hoodie. "It's not your fault. Just . . . don't scare me like that again."

He nods. "i promise."

That's when the mixture of feelings, along with your determination, makes you throw caution to the wind, and you decide to go for it, consequences be damned.

You lift your face up and press your lips against his mouth. You open your mouth and your teeth click against his. He isn't pushing you away. In fact, he opens his mouth too, and you slip your tongue in, just a little. You feel dizzy with excitement, mostly about how this kiss isn't nearly as weird as you thought it might be. It's actually pretty hot.

You pull away to assess his reaction. Your emotions are in turmoil, but you're so happy. You did it! God, and it felt good. You only hope now that the decision doesn't turn around and punch you in the face.

"oh," says Sans. He's blushing (somehow). Like, majorly blushing (seriously though, how is that possible?).

"Oh?" you repeat, grinning. "Is that all?"

His blush deepens. "i thought . . . i mean, i hoped . . . well. just. i'm glad you did that."

"Me too."

"oh boy," he says. "papyrus is gonna be so choked."

You laugh, and Sans laughs too. Then he stops. "wait. does that mean i'm second best?"

"No!" you cry.

Sans considers it. "i wouldn't be mad. he's pretty cool."

You punch him in the arm jokingly. Your eyes are still stinging from your little crying session earlier, but you feel way better now.

"hey, frisk?"

"Yeah?"

"i was thinking that, to make it up to you, i could teach you more about magic after all," he says. "i never knew it interested you so much, and i would rather you learn from me than anyone else."

Huh. "Maybe," you say. "Maybe that would be a good idea if any of those human magicians try to mess with me again. Or if they try to mess with my boyfriend."

He winks. "already calling me your boyfriend, huh?"

Your face reddens.

"just teasin'. but don't worry about me. your boyfriend can take care of himself, you know."

The wind picks up, and you shiver. Wordlessly, he takes off his hoodie to give it to you. You try to give it back, protesting that you have a sweater and you'll be fine, but he won't hear it. Then he gets up and offers his hand to you. You check it for a whoopie cushion before taking it.

"come on," he says. "there's this great new puzzle papyrus and i got."

You get to your feet and, still holding hands, you walk back towards town together, ready for anything.

.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Author Note: Okay, so you guys have convinced me. I've done it. I've written another chapter. In fact, there might be one more after this. I promise nothing, though! This was supposed to originally be a one-shot, so . . .**

 **Anyways, just a couple things to be clear on: I have been informed that second-person narration is prohibited in the site's guidelines (weird, I know), but usually only when it's a self-insert kind of thing, like those old choose-your-own-adventure books. So, because this is not self-insert really, and it's about the protagonist, Frisk, I'm gonna hope it's a little different. If not, I will have to change all of the 'you's and things to "Frisk" or "they," which will be super annoying but whatever. Failing that, I guess I'll make an account on Archive of Our Own or something and post it there under the same name.**

 **Lastly, the story does get a tad** _ **more**_ **spoiler-y, but not too much.**

 **Thank you all, by the way, for reading, reviewing, favouriting, or otherwise showing your support for my story. Lotsa love, guys :)**

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You are dating a skeleton.

The thought sounds weird, so you try saying the words out loud.

"I am dating a skeleton."

Nope. Still weird. Maybe weirder, actually, since now you're talking to yourself on top of it.

It's not like dating any other monster would be less weird, really, you think. "I'm dating a fish-lady" or "I'm dating a ghost" are clearly just as unusual for a human to say. At least all of the above are somewhat humanoid in appearance. How odd would it be to date a Froggit?

You and Sans have been 'dating' for a couple days now. Only, you haven't really been on a proper date yet.

That is your fault, though. You're still struggling with a few things right now, so you told Sans you didn't want to rush things. Or even tell anyone. Not just yet, anyways. He's been pretty cool with it so far, but he's kind of just a very chill person altogether, so it's not like that's new.

You are supposed to go to his place tonight, actually. Again though, not a date. No, Papyrus got this new video game about giant robots, and you promised him you'd come play it with him. Which of course means you're going over there to watch him play and compliment his button-mashing technique. Sans will be there too, but because you're trying to keep a low profile you get the feeling it won't be that different from when you would hang out with them before.

It's a Friday today, so Toriel is at work. You've been working on your resume for the past two hours, but the boredom is driving you crazy. You've already categorized your socks individually and had a memorable (although one-sided) conversation with a lamp. All in the name of procrastination.

The thing is, you just don't have many marketable skills. Being the official monster-human ambassador was pretty specific after all. You don't know much about non-monster-related public relations, and therefore don't know how to go about listing your strengths and whatnot. Maybe you could try to get a job in advertisement? You do have a knack for putting a positive spin on things and encouraging others, so . . . Ugh. You spin in the swivelly office chair and watch the dining room zoom around you.

Journalism maybe? You're sure Mettaton could give you a hand there. He has a ton of contacts in "show biz," so maybe you could do something with that, like being an intern at the news station, or getting an entry-level position at one of the magazines in one of Ebott's sister cities.

You nod to yourself and slide off the chair bonelessly, like a slug. Your body curls up on the carpet as you keep nodding, the names of super boring-sounding positions floating through your mind.

 _RING . . . RING!_

Your apathetic slug body refuses to move, even when the phone continues to ring a fourth time.

Somewhere in the back of your slug brain, you wonder who is trying to call you, and why, but it is too late. You have resigned yourself to your new life as a slug. Slugs did not have to think about career choices or interviews or paying bills.

The phone goes quiet, and all is still in the house once more. Nothing is stressful here.

 _RING . . . RING!_

Ah, well. You suppose that being a slug just wasn't right for you.

"Hello?" you answer the phone with a yawn.

"wow, kid. you sound tired. BONE-tired. get it?"

Against your will, your mouth curls into a giddy smile at the sound of Sans's voice. His pun has you shaking your head.

"Hey, Sans," you say, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Your stomach is doing little flop-flops though. How can you still be so dorky about this?

"so, for tonight," he continues. "how about we get a couple pizzas and soda and stuff?"

"Yeah, sure," you say suspiciously. Was he making excuses to call you? God you hoped so. "What kind?"

"dunno. up to you."

You think for a second. You knew Papyrus wouldn't care, and Sans picked off any and all toppings and just ate it with the tomato sauce, so it didn't really matter what you got. "Pepperoni's fine," you answer finally. "And whatever soda Alphys always gets."

"kay. sounds good."

You're unsure what to say now, but the silence doesn't stretch on for too long.

"i can't wait to see you," Sans says. Then, before you can reply, he says "toodles," and hangs up.

Pfft. Wow. What. A. Dork.

You quell a squeal of excitement and look back at your computer. You resolve to pound out the most intelligent-sounding resume of all time, and that your reward for doing so will be kissing Sans goodnight later (if you can avoid detection, that is).

.

.

.

It's almost four now, and you're heading out the door when your phone rings again. You answer immediately, but it isn't Sans's voice on the other end.

"Frisk."

Your heart skips a beat. It's Alice.

"I have nothing to say to you," you tell her, but as you go to press the button to end the call you hear her voice cry out.

"Wait! _Please_ wait!"

You lift the receiver to your face again. "You had better lose my number," you warn her, "or I'll sic Sans on you again. You remember him?"

"Frisk, listen to me. When I handed in my report, the senior magicians wanted me to ask you if you would like to work for them."

Her words are enough to make you hesitate over the phone's screen again. This was an intriguing development, surely, but that didn' t mean you were going to consider the offer, even for a second. Right?

"I thought you said you were out," you hear yourself saying. "You were going to leave."

Alice chuckled. "It isn't as easy as all that."

You shake your head before realizing she can't see you.

"No. I won't take it," you answer, and once more try to hang up on her.

"Well if you change your mind . . . All you have to do is call," Alice says, and then she ends the call before you can.

You pause, staring mutely at the blank screen before you.

Well then.

You wonder if it isn't too late to become a slug after all.

Ugh. You moan and lean against the doorframe. Suddenly you're feeling really tired and confused and frustrated that everything in your life has decided to be difficult just because.

So many possibilities to consider, you think. This game has become so familiar to you now, and yet it is still so difficult to actually make a decision.

You take a deep breath and head out the door, locking it behind you. As you walk, your mind drifts back to your time in the underground caverns. Your memories are somewhat shaky on a few points, but that is to be expected. It was, what, nearly four months you spent down there? Travelling back and forth, making friends, trying desperately to find a way to help everyone. You spent almost two weeks in Snowdin, crashing at Sans's and Papyrus's place. In a weird way, you think those were some of the best times of your life. The real world was so different from the one below the mountain.

The skeleton brothers' place looks almost identical to their old house in Snowdin. (You still aren't sure how they built it so quickly.) They even have the mailboxes, one overflowing with junk mail, the other completely empty.

You lift a hand to knock on the door but before your hand touches the wood, Papyrus swings it open.

"AH! MY FAVOURITE HUMAN PAL HAS ARRIVED. AND BY THAT I MEAN MY ONLY HUMAN PAL."

You smile and greet him, moving past him to put your bag down on the couch. The interior of the house has a sightly different layout to it than the old house, but it's still cozy and familiar. There are three pizza boxes balanced on top of one another on the counter, and your stomach rumbles enthusiastically.

"FRISK, YOU MUST BE THRILLED THAT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE INVITED YOU TO PARTAKE IN THE GLORIOUS GAMING EXPERIENCE THAT IS SUPER ROBOT SMASH III! WELL, WORRY NOT, WE SHALL BEGIN PLAYING AS SOON AS MY LAZYBONES BROTHER COMES OUT OF HIS ROOM."

At this, he strides up the stairs and raps his knucklebones on Sans's door impatiently. You hear a muffled reply from the other side of the door, and you watch the door with interest.

You saw San's bedroom once before, back in Snowdin. He kept his door locked all the time, for a number of reasons, but one time you caught a flu from running around in the snow all day, and your fever was pretty high. You had stumbled through the door with Papyrus behind you, calling to his brother about how "THE HUMAN WAS ACTING KIND OF WEIRD." Before you knew it, you had passed out in their living room. You woke multiple times throughout that night, and you thought at first that the tornado of dirty socks and balled up pieces of paper had been some kind of fever dream. You had long suspected that Sans's secrets had something to do with the quantum mechanics books lying around the house, as well as his knack for what could only be described as teleportation, but the truth (or as much as you knew of it - Sans still hated talking about his past) was that behind the laid-back act, Sans was a genius with more than a few personal demons.

His bedroom is a trap full of dirty socks and a ball of bedding. You knew he'd had trouble with insomnia for years. That's why he was always dozing off during the day. The nightmares about . . . well, the nightmares about things that _could_ have been, they plagued you for a long time as well. You guys spoke about it rarely, but if Sans ever texted you in the middle of the night, you would call him and keep him company through the wee hours, until he either fell asleep or left for work. And it was the same for you, if you woke up crying with images of golden flowers and dead faces whirling behind your eyelids in a macabre dance. He cracked jokes over the phone and told you fun facts about science that made you feel as though the world might not be all that bad. Thinking back on it now, you wonder how you hadn't fallen for him years ago.

You stop in your tracks. Sheesh. Was it that bad? Had you already fallen for him? Damn. The thought alone is making you sweat. Yeah, all you need right now is to have a freaking panic attack. You go down the stairs and into the kitchen to try to calm down.

"FRISK," Papyrus says worriedly, poking his head around the corner. "ARE YOU OKAY?"

You hear San's door open and shut and now you're really wigging out. He'll know. Somehow, he will. He knows everything. Was it paranoia when the guy you like has magic powers, can teleport, and knows the secrets of time travel? Not to mention his affinity for reading your facial expressions practically made him a mind-reader, too.

You see Sans's slippers scuff into view and you look down at your own feet. He can't read you like an open book as usual if he can't see your face.

"hey. i've got this, bro," Sans says to his brother. Papyrus hesitates, then sighs dramatically and goes back into the living room.

"I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND YOU TWO AND YOUR MOOD SWINGS."

"okay," Sans says to you, ignoring his brother's taunt. "what's up, kid? you worried papyrus will notice there's something going on between us or something? cuz you aren't being exactly subtle by hiding in the kitchen."

You shake your head, unsure what to say.

"ah. i get it. you're just trying to get me alone, huh?"

Oh god. You feel your face turn red and you bite your lip to keep it from quivering.

"hey. frisk." He steps forward and reaches towards you with one hand, tilts up your chin, and brushes the hair out of your face. "lighten up, will you? whatever it is, it's gonna be okay. i promise."

And then he's just your best friend again. The guy who promised Toriel he would protect you. The guy who did his best to believe in you and become your friend, even when he knew what the other outcome might have been. The guy who loves his brother and his friends and would do anything to protect them.

You want to hug him and hold him close, but then Papyrus calls to you both from the next room.

"I HOPE YOU TWO ARE READY. TO GET YOUR BUTTS KICKED. BY ME. NYEH HEH HEH!"

Sans rolls his eyes and shrugs. "well, guess we'd better get out there. you good to go?"

You give him a shy nod and he takes your hand, making your pulse jump, and leads you into the living room. Papyrus, luckily, is too busy choosing his avatar to notice your hand-holding, but you keep blushing all the same.

Once on the couch, Sans releases your hand to pick up a controller. Then, with a sly wink, he picks the smallest, weakest-looking avatar, a chubby little green robot.

"WOWIE, SANS. YOU ARE GOING TO GET CRUSHED. HEAR ME? CRUSHED! YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

You watch in amusement as the battle commences and Sans slips past every move of Papyrus's with ease and grace. Papyrus mutters "NYEH" a few times under his breath as he mashes the buttons in a desperate attempt to hit his opponent. Then, as the time is about to run out, Sans slows down and allows Papyrus to get a few punches in. It's enough for Papyrus to win.

The second round starts and you get off the couch to get some pizza. You pile a couple slices onto a plate and come back to see that this time, Sans has won. Huh.

Then you realize that he wants Papyrus to think it's a fair fight, so he's evening the playing field. In the third round, he will do the same thing as before and let his brother win. But then, you wonder, why bother with all the theatrics at the beginning, evading every attack?

You remember his wink as the game began and it hits you. He was showing off. For you.

You laugh softly to yourself as you sit down and watch the game. By the time that Papyrus wins, as you knew he would, you have eaten three slices of pizza by yourself. Sans sees this and nudges you with his elbow.

"slow down there, kid. you'll give yourself a stomach ache."

This time, your blush is pure embarassment. You must look like such a pig, you think.

"only kidding," he says. He knows you well enough to know how easy you are to mess with. Maybe that was part of your charm for him.

You look straight at him and he freezes at the forwardness of your gaze. You think for a second that maybe if he did have flesh and blood he would be blushing as much as you right now.

"I want to talk to you," you tell him, quietly enough that Papyrus can't hear you. "Later. Okay?"

He nods slowly, and his grin perks up again. He hands you the controller.

"your turn," he says.

.

.

.

Papyrus fell asleep on the couch about ten minutes into the movie that you put on after playing Super Robot Smash III, so (after Sans has put a blanket over his softly-snoring brother) you and Sans slip away up to his room.

Once inside though, you find it hard not to cry out in surprise.

The room, impossibly, is clean. The bed is made, there are no socks to be seen, and the trash tornado has gone AWOL. You blink.

"heh. it looks way nicer now, right?"

Sans is leaning against his door, almost awkwardly. The thought that you might make him as nervous as he makes you is suddenly not as unusual as it might have been just a few short days ago.

"You cleaned," you say. "For me?"

Oh, Sans definitely looks embarassed now. "well, yeah. of course it was for you."

You gesture towards the bed. "You even put your sheets on for once. Was that for me too?"

You meant for it to sound joking, but it came off as extremely flirtatious. You stare at each other for a moment, eyes wide. Neither of you had broached that particular topic yet, so for you to bring it up randomly, with no warning like that . . .

Sans, of course, is the first to recover from your slip-up. His signature grin is now more like a smirk. "if you wanna bone me so bad, frisk, all you've gotta do is ask."

You must have let out a shocked sort of squeak, because he laughs weirdly and shakes his head. "i thought i would let you have the bed tonight, dummy. i'll take the couch. or papyrus's bed, if i can't get him to move."

You're strangely relieved _and_ disappointed all at once. Sure, you might not be ready to take the relationship to that level, especially since you're still childishly giddy about kissing and holding hands, and because you aren't too sure what you want to do and what you don't, never mind how it would all _work_. But . . . well, you kind of wanted to know if he ever thought about you that way. You would never call yourself 'hot,' but you like to think that you're pretty cute in your own way. Ugh. Why was all of this so confusing? Shouldn't you have figured all of this out when you were in high school like everyone else?

You realize, belatedly, that Sans is talking to you. He's asked you a question, in fact.

"What?" you ask.

He smirks again. "i said 'do you wanna practice some magic?'"

You're so grateful that he brought up another topic you could kiss him right here and now. Except you don't, because you want to kiss him at the end of the night. It will feel more special that way.

You nod happily and the two of you take a seat on the floor across from one another.

"so, just to be clear, you don't want to learn any attacks, right?"

"No," you respond firmly. "Just shields, and healing spells. I know that you think I should be able to defend myself by having some basic attacks, but I really don't think that, well, that I could bring myself to . . . _hurt_ someone."

Even the thought of it makes you feel sick to the stomach. That's one of your worst fears-hurting someone. Especially someone you care about. You've seen it too many times in your dreams.

"fair enough," he says, and begins.

You love watching Sans work magic. His eye lights up with an ethereal, glittering blue flame, and the world bends to his will. In a lot of ways, his technique is very similar to Papyrus's, but just a touch more elegant, and a hell of a lot more indimidating. Is there anything he isn't good at?

He winks at you, and you realize you're staring at him, and pretty blatantly too.

"okay. because you're a human, working magic is a little different. your soul, in a magical battle, is exposed, while mine is inside my body. as you know, though, your soul is pretty damn strong.

"the trick is to ACT like you're going to win, but also gage the secret to your opponent's ability. for instance, when you fought undyne, she believes in fighting someone head-on. if you do this, you have the advantage, and can eventually wear her down. capiche?

"so the question is, frisk . . . what's your secret? you want to show mercy, to avoid fighting and violence in general? then you need to understand why."

He looks at you. He's waiting for your response.

But you don't have one. You knew the option was always there, and sometimes it was hard to resist the urge to fight back. In only a handful of cases, like the fight with Asgore, did you actually have to hit back in order to stop fighting. But you were determined not to hurt anyone because you knew what it was like to be hurt by others.

"I suppose," you say, "that it was because of Toriel. I was attacked by the first monster I met in the underground, and he told me that I could only kill or be killed. But then Toriel showed up, and she showed me another way. Even if it doesn't always work, I would rather run away than fight any day."

With that, you notice that a grey circle has surrounded your soul. Sans, experimentally, flicks his hand, and a bone hits the circle and bounces off it, completely unscathed.

"perfect," Sans says proudly. "well done. now, for healing, it would be best if you just had some monster food. however, we don't really have a fresh supply of that, so you can also just try to . . . frisk?'

Sans stands up, but you're already connecting with the floor. The room is spinning, and the edges of your vision are going dark. You feel Sans lifting you up, but then everything fades to black.

.

.

.

"frisk. frisk, wake up. you okay? come on, kiddo. don't do this to me."

You can feel a mattress beneath you, and soft sheets that smell like they were just washed. You try to move, but your body feels so heavy, and even trying to shift your weight is exhausting.

Sans shakes your arm a little. You can hear him breathing hard. He's panicking. Isn't that your job? You try to speak, but only let out a soft moan. It's enough, though. Sans lets out a heavy sigh of relief.

"oh thank god. listen. using so much magic all at once . . . it kinda wiped you out. next time, we really have to work on that healing spell. and also you gotta pace yourself. hey. could you, like, try to nod or something if you can hear me?"

You manage to flick your eyes open, and smile weakly at him, but then your eyelids drift closed again. You wish you weren't so tired.

"okay. damn. well, here, i managed to find some sea tea. this should help you regain some hp, 'kay?" He props you up and puts a mug to your lips. You drink it, blinking sleepily.

He laughs to himself, then says "if you do this to me again, you'll be sleeping in the dog house, ya hear?"

You breathe a little laugh. You remember the 'capture zone' all too well.

Sans sighs again, and you feel him lean forward until his forehead connects with yours. Its cool, and you push back against him. You then realize you're basically nuzzling him like a newborn puppy, so you let your head fall back onto the bed.

"heh. you have no idea how freaking cute you are, do you?"

Maybe it was a mixture of the tea's healing powers and the sheer surprise from hearing those words coming from Sans's mouth, but you shoot up in the bed and stare at him. Did he really just say that?

The moment you're sitting up, he pulls you into a tight embrace, his fingers digging into the back of your sweater.

"i know you're tough, but you still managed to scare me there. just a little."

"Sorry," you say. Then you pull back to look him in the eyes.

"Sans, I'm ready to tell people. About us."

His smile widened. "really?"

You nod. "I wanna start with Papyrus, in the morning. And we can maybe casually ask Undyne and Alphys if they wanna go on a double date sometime, and see their reactions which I think will be amazing. Oh, oh! And for Toriel I wanna tell her myself first, because I get the feeling she'll be annoyed that you didn't ask for her blessing or something and-"

"frisk."

"Yeah?"

"is there something you aren't telling me?"

Your heart falls in your chest. Okay so maybe you wanted to tell him something happy before you told him about Alice's phone call, but . . . it wasn't like you were trying to hide anything from him.

"Alright. Yeah. There is something else."

You take a deep breath, before saying everything as fast as you can: about the job hunting and your resume-writing failure, the call from Alice and the proposal from the magicians, but you would never because you're sure the magicians aren't the best people and you aren't ready for anything like that and yeah you're a little scared that they would try to make you hurt someone, or if you refuse then maybe they'll threaten to hurt someone to make you sign up. Then you're done talking, and you're out of breath, and Sans is sitting patiently with a calm, stoic expression on his face.

"yeah, i thought they'd pull something like that. figures, considering how talented and cool you are."

"Stop," you say, "before you make me blush again."

"that's because i'm cool too, and you know it. we're just too cool. too cool for school, as they say."

"No one is that cool," you laugh. "And don't let Toriel hear you say anything like that. No one is too cool for school in her mind."

He laughs and falls onto the bed beside you. The movement startles you, but you let yourself relax as he stares up at the ceiling, eyes half-closed in a comfortable repose.

"you know, kid, you really don't need to worry so much. you're smart, and kind, and you'll figure out what you need to do before long."

He flips onto his side so he's propping up his skull with one hand, the other resting easily on his hip. It would have looked very seductive, were it not for his thoughtful, nonchalant expression.

"honestly, i always felt that you were best at simply talking with people, getting to know them. you _understand_. and more then that: you care. like, genuinely. you're a really good person, frisk."

You stare at him, but he's studying his fingertips now, as if looking at his (nonexistent) fingernails.

Huh. Talking? You weren't sure how to put that on your resume, but . . . it sounded good. It suited you. If you could get the chance to listen to people's troubles and help them, then . . . wait.

You sit up in the bed again. "Toriel is always complaining about the lack of school counsellors. Especially ones who are willing to work with monster kids."

Sans doesn't turn his face towards you, but he gives you a sidelong glance, his one visible eye boring into you. "oh?" he says, then goes back to looking at his fingers.

Your eyebrows shoot up towards your hairline. No. No way.

"What, are you saying you knew I would want to do that?" you demand from him. He smirks and shrugs his shoulders in response.

" _I_ didn't even know!"

He gives you a look that says _oh, didn't you?_

"frisk. come on. you were a troubled kid who ran away to the mountains where you heard people vanished mysteriously. a mountain where, if the legends were true, a whole buncha monsters were sealed away a long time ago.

"and then, when you fall down and discover those legends are true, what do you do? you refuse to fight anyone, instead talking to them and trying to help them in any way that you can, the way that no one ever listened to or helped you.

"you could have given in. i might not remember everything, but there were dark things down there. things that whispered. and i know things could have happened very differently. but you . . . oh, you. you were just too kind. too determined. too lonely. all you wanted was to make friends.

"so yeah. yeah, i knew. you weren't meant for anything else."

There are tears in your eyes now, hovering on your eyelashes. You blink and let them fall, and Sans looks at you with sudden concern and a touch of guilt for making you cry. You laugh. "No, I'm okay. You just . . ." You trail off, unsure of how to explain what he just made you feel. "I think you have a knack for understanding people, too."

"oh, gee. really? sometimes i think i just make things worse."

Now it's your turn to look concerned for him. "What? Why?"

He shoves his hands in his pockets and sits cross-legged. "uh, just by being me. i'm too lazy or too honest or, um, too protective. i can be a little scary when i'm upset."

He's talking about you. About how he scared you. You shake your head. How can he see that you try to understand everyone, but then go and assume he is the exception?

"I can't say I'm always very wise," you say slowly. "Back then, I was afraid. How could I not be? I was nine. In a world of monsters where everyone I met hated me and wanted to kill me on sight? I was doing my best to be brave, but sometimes I couldn't help giving in to fear. Mostly that I wouldn't make friends, and that I wouldn't be able to help."

Sans looks down, away from you. "and what about with alice?"

You shrug. "Again, I didn't know she was just using me, or that I could have hurt myself doing magic like that. I get why you wanted to protect me _now_. Sans, you're also a good person. You care about everyone, too."

His face was unreadable. There was a mixture of worry, guilt, regret, and something else, and it all twisted into his expression in seconds, then was gone. His ever-present smile perked up again, though you could still feel his pain.

The worst thing about seeing the monsters living beneath the world's surface, in the dark and the cold, was how damn happy they still managed to be. Yes, it was mostly for show, but they still had friends and family and they just tried so damn hard to put on a smile. Papyrus was really good at this. As self-absorbed as he might appear, he is really pretty selfless at heart. As for Sans, it took you a little longer to figure him out. But out of everyone in the underground, you met only one other whose soul was more tortured than his, and that other soul had no such problem with torturing people right back.

You were hugging him before he realized it, for once moving too fast for him. He gasped softly in surprise, then hugged you back, almost a little too tight.

"so," he said. "i was thinking, now that we're official and all, maybe we can finally go on a proper date?"

You release him and rub your eyes. "What did you have in mind?"

He rubs his neck and blushes his usual, magical blue. "well, uh. there's kind of this new movie that's out. it looks really good. and i know alphys really wants to see it . . ."

You chuckle. "So you like my double date plan then?"

He nods, then pauses. "we have to make it clear though that we wanna see the movie. i don't want them to take us dumpster-diving again. i don't care what cool trash they might find."

"Fair enough," you agree.

When he turns his head to smile at you, you lean in and plant a kiss on him. It's quick, and chaste, but his blush deepens anyways. So maybe you are more than just a little cute. You smile happily, sleepily, and he gets up to leave.

"No, don't," you say. "This is your bed."

He frowns a little. "i'm not gonna make you sleep somewhere else. it's fine."

"No," you clarify. "I mean, stay with me. This is a sleepover, after all."

Most of his face is blue now. "o-okay," he stammers, and crawls back into the bed with you, this time slipping under the covers and reaching over to drape the blanket over you too. He slips his hoodie off and chucks it at the light switch to turn it off, then snuggles into the blankets. You aren't sure if he's going to try to cuddle with you or make a move or what, but you're practically paralyzed with embarrasment and worry and anticipation.

Then he breathes out a laugh, and places an arm over you, comforting and reassuring.

"night," he says.

"Good night," you whisper back. As you fall asleep, you think that maybe you'll invite Alphys and Undyne and Papyrus out to breakfast, and you can tell them the big news. You let out a happy sigh as your worries drift away. Tomorrow is gonna be pretty awesome, you think.

You can't wait. But at the same time, you want this night to never end.

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	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again, you lovely people.**

 **I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but there's one more part coming! This one was getting a little long, so . . . Yeah, now I've got an epilogue in the works, which will be written from Sans's perspective. The Sans part is a tad head canon-y when concerning the mysterious 'machine' and Gaster and stuff, but only briefly.**

 **I am still waiting for this damn game to loosen its grip on my soul, but at this point I'm not sure that will ever happen. This has probably already been said by somebody somewhere, but I have an Undertale-shaped hole in my Undertale-shaped heart, and I very well might write another story or two after this because of it.**

 **Thanks for reading, everyone :)  
**

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Papyrus is making pancakes in the kitchen.

It smells good, you think. Thank goodness he started taking cooking lessons from Toriel instead of Undyne. Undyne has a lot going for her, but her cooking skills are not one of her better qualities.

You had initially tried to take everyone out for breakfast. (You totally slept in. Like a boss.) However, Papyrus would not hear of it. He wanted to make up for falling asleep before the movie had even ended.

"AND I TOOK UP THE WHOLE COUCH, TOO," he had said. "WHICH MEANT YOU HAD TO SLEEP IN MY BROTHER'S ROOM."

For whatever reason, he didn't ask why you hadn't just slept in his own bed. Or woken him up. Or why Sans had slept in there with you. Not that you mind. You aren't very good at lying, especially not to your friends.

When you protested that you wanted to have breakfast with everyone, he simply chided you and proceeded to phone everybody to tell them about the pancake breakast at the skeleton brothers' home.

You say 'everybody' because Mettaton was back in town now. Nabstablook would have come with as well, but they still have a great deal of social anxiety. Also, they have no corporeal body, and therefore cannot actually eat the pancakes.

So Mettaton is on the way now. Undyne and Alphys are already here, and you guys are watching some morning cartoons. There's this one show that Alphys swears by, but you think the plot is greatly lacking. It is meant to appeal to children, after all. Maybe you would have liked it when you were younger.

Undyne isn't really watching either. She's grumbling to herself and shooting glares at the kitchen. She had initially tried to help prepare food with Pap in the kitchen. When she had (somehow) caught the ceiling on fire trying to set the table, and gotten a variety of knives and forks jammed in the wall in the process, Alphys had suggested meekly that she just sit on the couch with her and let Papyrus do his thing.

You, for one, are sitting on the side of the couch. Sans had teleported into the spot next to Alphys before you could take a seat, and you had almost sat down right on his lap. Your face burning, he had simply grinned and suggested you do exactly that. "i don't mind," he told you with a wink. Refusing to do anything like that in front of everyone, you had resolutely flopped down on the arm-rest instead. It's uncomfortable, but it's better than giving away your relationship before the announcement.

You groan inwardly. Now you have to make the big announcement with _Mettaton_ in the room. Dear god, why?

As you ponder the possibility of karma and what you may have done in the past to deserve this, Alphys grabs her girlfriend's arm suddenly. "Look, look! This is the best part! Yuki's about to confess her love for Sakura, but the whole magic school is watching!"

Undyne's grim glaring turns to surprise, then just as quickly to affection for Alphys, who had very effectively ruined the rest of the episode for you all.

Undyne watches the screen a moment longer, then turns to you.

"Hey, Frisk, what ever happened with that chick from the bar?"

You tense up. "Er - you mean Alice . . . ?"

She nods. "Yeah, that's the one!"

You've already told everyone about who Alice really worked for, but since the job offer from the secret society of magicians or whatever only came up yesterday, you haven't had the chance to say anything about it.

You take a deep breath and are about to tell her when Sans interrupts you.

"yeah, she was cute. who cares if she would have tried to rope you into a society that hates all of monsterkind? call her up. ask her out."

You glare at him, and Undyne punches him in the arm. "That's not what I meant, you boney bastard, and you know it."

Sans shrugs. You know he's probably a weird mixture of pissed off and jealous right now, but you're dating _him_ for god's sake! Hell, you two just slept in the same bed together all night. The memory of waking up in his arms, with him softly snoring behind you, is enough to make you blush. Undyne mistakes the reason for your red face though, and quickly apologizes to you.

"Hey, I'm sorry, Frisk. Don't wanna make you uncomfortable. What I should have said was why haven't you tried getting over that yet? You had been saying all that stuff about being kind of lonely, and then that whole thing with her happened, and now you seem totally unfazed by it."

Your face gets hotter, and you realize you're trembling a little.

Alphys takes some of the pressure off you when she reminds everyone how flirtatious you had been as a kid.

"You practically seduced a whole fleet of Moldsmals by wiggling your hips at them."

You laugh softly. Sans interjects. "yeah, didn't you flirt with toriel right after calling her 'mom'?"

Ah. Yes. That.

You don't remember all that much of your foster mom, or any of your life before the Underground really, but you know you got that from her. You have vague memories of her many boyfriends. You remember her flirting with your teacher in second grade. Flirting her way out of a speeding ticket. You . . . you thought it was normal. It took you an embarrassingly long time to figure out that it wasn't. It was a good thing everyone thought it was cute, you guess.

Papyrus busts into the living room with about thirty pancakes stacked on three different plates, one plate being balanced precariously on his head.

"BREAKFAST," he cried, "IS READY."

Your rumbling stomach reminds you how hungry you are, so you jump up off the couch (relieved to sit anywhere but that lumpy armrest) and have a seat at the kitchen table. Then you remember that you have to tell everyone soon. Your stomach suddenly tightens at the thought, and you hesitate in piling the pancakes onto your plate. Would it be too late to back out now? You're sure Sans would understand.

"Thanks, Papyrus!" everyone says in a chorus. He bows dramatically before taking a seat.

"Wait, sh-shouldn't we wait for Mettaton?" Alphys asks.

No one says anything, but Undyne shrugs and continues to stuff her face. After a moment, Alphys shrugs too.

"WORRY NOT," Papyrus says after swallowing a highly impressive mouthful. "METTATON SHALL BE HERE VERY SHORTLY."

And indeed, the moment these words have been uttered, the front door swings open.

"Hello, darlings!" Mettaton's sing-song voice booms.

He strides right into the kitchen without stopping, heels clicking on the tile floor. He's carrying shopping bags with very pricey tags poking out the top. "I have brought you some presents, my lovelies," he says, "but no one is opening them until after breakfast."

He drops into the remaining chair gracefully. Every movement of his looks like he's posing for a nonexistant camera.

"Frisk, darling," he says to you. "Be a dear and pass me the syrup?"

You oblige, and he smiles at you. You would describe it as 'seductive' if you didn't know all too well that that was just how he acted all the time, with everyone.

"Papyrus, thank you so much for inviting me over. It's such a pleasure visiting everyone after being away for so long. Ah, me. The life of a celebrity can be so hard sometimes."

"NO PROBLEM. IT WAS FRISK'S IDEA, REALLY."

"Oh?" Mettaton blinks at you with what he probably thinks looks like innocent curiosity. "I thought they looked like they were hiding something. Dear, do you have something important you want to tell us?"

You freeze, startled at how on the nail his observations were. Your lack of a reply causes everyone else to turn their attention on you. Sans stops drinking from the syrup bottle.

In the moment, you panic, and stand up.

"I have to go to the bathroom!" you cry, and run off.

You are about to slam the door shut when Papyrus puts himself in the way. You're amazed he reacted fast enough to get to you so quickly.

"FRISK! WHAT IS WITH YOU TODAY? YOU HAVE BEEN ACTING SO STRANGELY. ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

You nod furiously and ask him to get out, but the door is open now. Everyone else has followed to see what was happening. You shoot Sans a desperate look and he nods, then waves his hand. Papyrus is engulfed in blue magic and pulled back out of the bathroom.

"bro, if they wanna be alone them leave them be, 'kay?" Sans says, and makes to go back down the hallway.

Papyrus looks outraged at his brother using his magic on him like that. "YOU'RE ONE TO TALK. YOU'VE BEEN ACTING EVEN STRANGER. DO YOU KNOW WHY THE HUMAN IS ACTING THIS WAY? I'M NOT AN IDIOT. I KNOW YOU TWO ARE HIDING SOMETHING."

"nuh-uh."

"YEAH-HUH!"

Sans's eye lights up with magic. "what makes you say that?"

"YOU TWO SLEPT IN THE SAME BED TOGETHER. YOU WERE HAVING A SECRET SLUMBER PARTY WITHOUT ME."

" . . . "

Sans's flames die away. Now he's just standing there, stunned. Everyone else is silent, too shocked to move or say anything, and you are no exception.

You wanted to be the one to tell everyone.

"Papyrus . . . " you say, hurt. He doesn't know what he's done, so you stop there. You don't know what to say now.

Interestingly enough, no one else is saying anything. Undyne looks like she's (barely) holding back a surprised, but delighted, grin. Alphys is blushing, looking away from you and Sans. Mettaton is watching the proceedings with a cool disinterest, but his arms are crossed and his eyes flick from you to Sans to Papyrus.

Oh well. Even if you don't get the full surprise reaction from everyone now, you can at least clear up any confusion. The way Papyrus had said it could be taken a very different way. In fact, telling from Undyne's face right now, you think she at least has already made that assumption.

"Papyrus, it isn't like that," you hear yourself saying. "I'm your friend. Sans is your brother. We would never exclude you."

"THEN WHAT IS IT?"

Sans shakes his head. "you don't have to answer if you don't want to, frisk."

"No, I do," you say. You don't want anyone getting the wrong idea. It may not be any of their business, but they're your friends. You want them to know.

"Papyrus. Everyone. Sans and I are, well . . . we're dating. We have been for the past week now. It isn't too serious yet, but I wanted to tell you myself."

Undyne starts hollering immediately. "Hell yeeeaaaaah! I _so_ knew it! You little turd, why didn't you tell me?"

You laugh, relieved. Alphys is still blushing, but now she's smiling up at you. Mettaton has a sly grin on his face, like he's proud of you. Papyrus's eyes have gone wide, and Sans is patting him on the back.

"WAIT. SO. ARE YOU SAYING THAT . . . YOU'RE OVER ME?"

You laugh harder. "Yeah, I guess I am. Sorry, Papyrus."

The 'sorry' does it. He recovers and straightens up, placing one hand over his ribcage valiantly. "I WILL ALLOW IT. AFTER ALL, BESIDES ME, THERE IS NO ONE ELSE I WOULD RATHER YOU BE IN LOVE WITH, FRISK."

You clap a hand to your mouth. Now it's Sans's turn to laugh. "nah, bro, i don't think it's quite there yet. at least for them, anyways."

The internal screaming in your head increases in pitch. Did Sans just . . . ?

Undyne wasn't listening, and Alphys is trying to calm her down, but Mettaton is openly smirking at you. Oh, hell no. You are _not_ about to say the L word in front of everyone. There's no way. That was way too personal. You think Sans probably thinks the same way, because he gives you a wink and shrugs, as if to say 'sorry, but it's true.'

"So have you two been on a proper date yet?" Mettaton asks you. You shake your head timidly, still a little bit rattled from everything.

He beams at you. "Perfect. In that case, I would like to invite you two to the next show. You'll get VIP seating, backstage passes, and everything!" He leans in and wiggles his metal eyebrows conspiratorially. "There might even be a kiss-cam."

"NO FAIR!" Papyrus says, overhearing. "I WANT TO GO, TOO!"

Mettaton rounds on him. "Papyrus. Baby. You can _absolutely_ come next time. But for now, I think Frisk deserves to have a real date with your brother." Papyrus is blushing slightly from being called 'baby,' so Mettaton takes advantage of this and puts his arm around the tall skeleton's shoulders. "If you like," he says, slowly, "I can show you my dressing room instead."

"REALLY?" Papyrus yells excitedly. Behind him, Sans has a murder-y look on his face as he watches Mettaton flirt with his brother so blatantly. Sans, despite being the younger of the two, is still very protective of Papyrus. You wonder if he'll threaten Mettaton the same way he threatened Alice. You can't be sure. Especially since he knows how obsessed Pap is with the robotic celeb.

After, when the pancakes have been consumed and the plates cleared away, everyone opens Mettaton's gifts. The holiday season is almost upon you, and you think maybe he should have waited, but that doesn't stop you from tearing open the bag he has for you.

Of course.

Everyone is holding MTT merchandise. There are band shirts, hats with Mettaton's face on them, and so on. You don't think anyone is truly surprised. Then Mettaton starts laughing like a maniacal villain.

"You sillies! I'm not giving you any real presents until next month! Until then, though, do feel free to wear this everywhere you go. All publicity is good publicity, after all."

Papyrus is already wearing the Mettaton-themed baseball cap. "I LOVE IT!" he shouts.

Mettaton blows him a kiss. "Of course you do, darling."

You grin. You have stuck a number of stickers to your face. There are ten of Mettaton, four of Nabstablook, three of Shyren, and you have one of Burgerpants on your forehead. The others laugh at you and do the exact same thing, pasting the stickers to each other until it's almost a game. Funny enough, Mettaton himself loses (or wins?), with a total of thirty-five stickers on him.

Undyne keeps pestering you for questions about you and Sans. She wants to know "how far" you two have gone, if he has been a gentleman, if YOU have been a gentleman - you laughed at this one and jokingly said that no, you were definitely taking advantage of him, and you got a punch in the arm for your sarcastic ways - and, finally, as she and Alphys are leaving to go thrift shopping for the day, she whispers one last question in your ear.

"Do you love him?"

You know she whispered, but you still look around wildly in case anyone heard her. She sniggers at the response, but you hesitate. The only one who is maybe in earshot is Alphys. "I . . . I can't be," you answer her at last. "It's been, like, a week."

She looks at you strangely, looking very sage for once. "Frisk, you should know by now that monsters love differently than humans. We fall hard and fast, whether it's platonic or romantic or what. If we form a bond with someone, it's for life."

"Yeah, but _I'm_ _human_ , Undyne," you tell her, exasperated.

"Yes," she says seriously. "But _he isn't_. And he's loved you for a very long time." She pauses, then adds, "and hey, you are an honorary monster. You're one of us whether you like it or not."

"He hasn't been _in_ love with me! And I've loved all of you for a long time, too."

She nods. "I know, kiddo. I'm not saying you haven't loved him for a long time. But just like you, he might have started loving you a different way without even realizing it himself."

Your heart is pounding so hard, you think she might be able to hear it from where she's standing. "But . . ." you protest, weakly. "Even . . . even if I do feel that way. It's only been a week. It's not like I can say anything yet. I'll look desperate. And inexperiences."

Undyne shrugs. "Fine. Have it your way. I'm just saying, putting it off for too long might freak him out. Monster-human relationships are very complicated, you know."

You frown. What is that supposed to mean?

She shakes her head at you like you're the one being confusing, not her, and she pulls you in for a bear hug. "Call me later, okay?" she asks. "And you should come over soon. I think Alphys is dying to have girl talk."

Alphys must have been listening, because she whirls around with a guilty and embarrassed look. "W-what? No way!"

You give her a hug too and promise to come over at some point over the next few days. That way, you can also tell them about all the crap with Alice, and your new plans for the future. You wave as they walk away, noticing that it must have snowed at some point in the night. There's a thin layer of white coating the world, though it will melt soon under the sunlight. For now, everything is glittering beautifully, and you feel happy.

You turn back and go into the house to escape the biting wintry air, to find Mettaton staring at you.

"You are one sly little troublemaker, Frisk," he says, tutting. "You always were a flirt, but this was quite the show. If I had known you would have such a talent for drama I would have gotten you on my show sooner."

He comes closer and pecks you on the cheek, and with that, breezes out the door. Over his shoulder, he calls back. "I'll call you, and we can set up that date of yours, okay? Toodles!"

You shut the front door behind him. This time, when you turn around, Sans has appeared in front of you.

"i think that went well," he says, deadpan as always.

You raise your eyebrows at him. "Are you serious?"

He rolls his eyes. "no, of course not. but hey, it coulda been worse, right?"

Instead of answering that, you change the subject. "So I guess we can't go on that double date, now."

"huh? how come?"

"Uh, because now we're apparently going to Mettaton's concert instead?"

Sans gives you a sly look. "what, we can't do both? i'll have you know, i plan on going with many dates with you, frisk. not just one or two."

He knows you meant for your first date, and is just messing with you, but his words make you think.

You look down at your feet. You're very self-conscious suddenly. Undyne's advice comes back to you, and you start wondering about the implications of a monster-human relationship. Sans is almost definitely going to outlive you, as he does pretty much stay the same age. And monsters do love differently than humans. What if, one day, you weren't in love with him anymore? What if you broke his heart? What if he couldn't be your friend anymore because every time he sees you it causes him pain?

But what if you're just flattering yourself, and he isn't that in love with you already? He could have been joking around when he said that to Papyrus earlier. Maybe you could still get out of this and stay friends.

"frisk."

You look up at him. He's studying you, his hand reaching out ever so slightly, like he wants to hold you.

"I'm going to delete Alice's number," you blurt out. "I'll block the number from my phone, too. If they try to contact me again then I'll ignore them, or you can kick their asses."

You laugh, but it sounds empty to your own ears. You should go home soon, you think. Toriel will be home in about two hours.

"frisk," Sans says again. "are you overthinking things again?"

You let out a sigh. "No."

"frisk."

"Okay, maybe!" you give in. "Undyne might have said something that has me worried."

"and that is . . . ?" he coaxes you.

You think for a second. Papyrus is upstairs, putting away the stuff that Mettaton brought. You can do this now, or keep putting it off and just stress yourself out more.

"Sans, are you in love with me?"

You ask him that instead of telling him how you feel because, as scared of his answer as you might be, you're more scared of your own.

The question hangs in the air between you. Sans rubs the back of his neck bones. "wow, frisk. straight to the point, huh?"

You wait for him to answer the question. After a minute, he chuckles.

"okay. i was kind of waiting for a better moment, but this clearly needs to be said. otherwise, you're just gonna keep beating yourself up about it."

He's stalling now. You just keep looking at him expectantly, until he's blushing too. If you weren't so scared right now you would think he was cute like this.

"yes, frisk."

You're holding your breath. Your eyes are wide. Is that his answer? Does he-?

"it can't come as a complete surprise to you. of course i'm in love with you. you're, well, you."

You keep staring at him, blankly.

"what's with that look? buddy, you have no idea how obvious you were, do you? i mean, yeah, you flirted with all of us at one point or another. but for the past two years or so, i dunno if it was your hormones just goin' off the charts or what, but you were crazy nervous every time i was in the room. if i said anything even remotely funny, you howled with laughter. and god forbid if i made a dirty joke. you blush real easily, kid, always have, but suddenly you were sweating and twitchy too. so, yeah. i got to thinking. at first i just entertained the idea of like, holding your hand or something, just to see how you'd react. but then i wanted to see that reaction. i _wanted_ to make you blush."

Your laugh is surprised. "What, so you were messing with me?" A few things made a lot more sense that way.

But Sans shook his head. "not exactly. or, maybe a little. but i started thinking about what it would be like to take you on a date. what it would be like to kiss you. before i knew it, i couldn't get you out of my head. you've always been a good friend, but i didn't know if it would work, with me being a skeleton and you being flesh-and-blood. i was worried that whatever you had was just a crush that would go away with time, and i would be stuck loving you this way forever."

He stopped abruptly after this, like he had shared too much. For all that he tried to be so easygoing, he really did torture himself a lot.

This time when you laugh, it's half laughter, and half a deep, shuddering sigh of relief. So he had been just as scared as you, huh?

"I was worried too," you tell him. "I know a lot of human couples are fairly casual in dating. Some of them never even fall in love. And a lot of relationships are pretty brief. But I never want to lose you. So what if I do stop loving you? What if . . . if . . . "

"i won't leave you," he says quickly, stopping your line of thought. "not ever. kid, you're stuck with me. for life. even if you ever decide to stop loving-"

He broke off in sudden realization, and your blood runs cold.

"oh," he says.

You watch his face, but he's just smiling, so you take the chance.

"I love you," you say.

And for better or worse, you do love him. Your emotions are running wild, and you don't know if you want to laugh or cry or scream or what else, so instead you kiss him. He kisses back, but he can't stop smiling against your mouth.

All relationships are complex, you think. This one won't be any different. But damn it if you aren't determined to give it your all.

Sans pushes you against the wall and grins wickedly. You're so surprised though that you don't realize at first what he's doing. Then you look down at yourself. Or rather, you try. But your body is blue, and you're stuck against the wall.

Well. This is just not where you thought this was going at all.

Sans winks at you and goes upstairs, leaving you like that. You watch him go, outraged, a little confused, and a little bit breathless, unable to move. Then, before disappearing into his room, he flicks his wrist and you're released. Oh, he is going to get it, you think, and chase up the stairs after him. You can hear him laughing, and when you go into his room, he is nowhere to be seen.

Baffled, you turn around and see him below, in the living room.

"you see what i mean?" he asks you.

You start down the stairs but then he's gone again.

"you're so easy to mess with," he says, and his voice is coming from right beside you.

You spin, expecting him to disapppear on you again, but then he's kissing you, and pushing you down slowly, until you're half-sitting, half-lying on the steps.

"say it again," he tells you. A smile spreads across your face as you take in his meaning.

"Say what?" you ask playfully.

Sans's eyes shimmer. "you know what i mean."

"What are you gonna do, punish me if I say no?"

You're already slipping back into your flirtatious ways without realizing it. The meaning of the words sinks in, and you immediately want to take it back, but Sans shifts above you, and he tugs on your hair a little, sparking a very interesting reaction in you. You push back against him softly.

"you want me to punish you?" he asks.

Your heart skips a beat as he leans in close. His eyes are half-closed, and one of his hands is travelling down your back in a tantalizingly slow line.

"i love you a ton," he whispers. "a skeleTON."

He leans back. You stare at him dully.

"what? i said i was going to PUNish you."

"Oh, my god, Sans. Oh my god. Oh my god, I love you."

He gets up and offers you a hand, but you're laughing too hard. You snort, and that make him laugh too. You're laughing so hard that you're crying a little, and when Papyrus comes out of his room and demands to be told what's going on, you laugh harder.

Yeah. You two are gonna be just fine.

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	4. Epilogue

**Hello again, everyone.  
**

 **I'm sure for this one you might have been expecting a proper date, but my inspiration led me down another path. Besides, the last few times they've hung out have been pretty date-like, right...? Anyways, just a reminder, this one is in Sans's perspective. It's still second-person as well (though I still don't know if it's okay or not. It isn't an "interactive" work though, so I can't imagine why formatting it this way, especially in a T-rated fic, would be an issue. Only time shall tell, I suppose).  
**

 **I hope you enjoy this final installment, and thank you for sticking with me!**

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Epilogue

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It's snowing outside the window. Heavy, fluffy white flakes twist down from the night sky. There's already about two feet of it out there.

Frisk is in the kitchen making hot chocolate, a rare substitution for the golden flower tea. There's some holiday movie on the tv, but you've turned down the volume.

So you and Frisk have been going out now for about a month. Tonight isn't a date night, though. The weather isn't predictable enough for that. Instead, you two have decided to just stay in and watch some heartwarming film and drink hot chocolate and stuff like that. Besides, Papyrus is here tonight too. He's outside right now, making snow-angels.

For some reason, though, you just aren't happy right now. Maybe it's because you know you should be happy, but you can't stop thinking about the past. And not the good parts of the past, either.

The best part about leaving the Underground behind is that you left the machine down there, too. In fact, everything that you and Gaster and Alphys made together is gone. And there's no one who can reset the timelines now.

That didn't stop the nightmares, though.

You haven't told Frisk. They're usually pretty good at comforting you. They used to have the nightmares too, after all. The half-forgotten memories of the events that didn't happen. Except that they had happened. Maybe not to this version of you. Maybe not in this version of events. But that only meant that they had happened to other versions of you. Most of whom are probably dead. Small mercies, you think.

The thing is, Frisk isn't always Frisk in the nightmares. Sometimes, they're not themself at all, but something darker. You don't remember its name, but you remember its face. You can't erase that.

You know it isn't them. It's not your Frisk. But you still see them killing your brother and your friends. Over and over again.

Back then, you'd had to be cautious. You tested them from the very beginning, watching for any signs of danger. But Frisk, the real Frisk, was a good kid. Sad, quiet, lonely, maybe a little bit bitter, but sweet and genuinely kind-hearted. So you began to grow more and more hopeful. You tested them with jokes. And threats. Once, when you confirmed their ability to rest the timeline, you tricked them. But at the same time, you rewarded them with letting them in on your secret. That you, too, had once had the chance to fix things when they went wrong.

Then you started having fun. Real fun. Fun that wasn't overshadowed by the cavern ceiling trapping you and everyone you loved underground. And damn it if that didn't feel good.

You will never forgive those other not-Frisks for killing your brother, but this Frisk . . . _your_ Frisk. You love them. And you always will. They're real. They're yours.

As Frisk grew up, you found in them the best friend you had never had. Yes, there was Papyrus, of course, but sometimes, you just wanted to have someone around who really got you. And ever since they found out your deepest darkest secrets, you knew completely that you could trust them, that this was it. They told you that this was the true timeline, and nothing was going to reset anymore. That had been the first time you'd cried in front of them.

Then when they'd started acting weird around you, you knew something was different between you two. They shot hopeful, embarrased glances at you when they thought you weren't looking. And you started getting hyper-aware of everything they did, too. Every movement or change in their expression or flip of their hair fascinated you. Every time you two touched, even if it was a hug or your thighs touching when you were sitting on the couch together, made you nervous.

The difference in lifespans did give you pause, but then you started thinking about the alternative. About them growing old and dying, and you still hiding your feelings.

So could it work? A human and a monster?

It was working so far. In fact, it was, if anything, even more incredible than you ever could have imagined. Your feelings hadn't faded whatsoever. Although you weren't as nervous now, you still got butterflies every time they looked your way or smiled at you or spoke or . . .

Welp. There you go again.

Frisk comes back into the room, carefully balancing some graham crackers on top of the two steaming mugs. When they look up at you with a happy smile, they pause. One of the crackers slips and almost falls onto the floor.

"Sans? Sans, what's wrong?"

Huh? Oh. You're crying. Or at least, one tear is hanging from your chin. You swipe at it, momentarily annoyed at yourself for not noticing.

"aw, geez," you say. "look at that. guess i was just getting a little overemotional over . . ." You think fast before saying, "the snow."

Frisk gives you a funny look, then tells you to shove over, so you do.

"Fine, Mr. Funnybones. Keep your secrets. Find anything good on?"

You shrug, taking one of the mugs and a couple graham crackers from them. Your fingers brush together and your breath stops a moment (good thing you don't really need to breathe.) Frisk gives you a knowing look and sips their own hot chocolate.

Then Frisk sets their cup down on the sidetable and gives you a hug. You lean in instinctively, before you notice something odd.

"why are you so cold?" you ask.

They caught you off guard with the hug, so you don't even see it coming. Suddenly, you hear a crunch, and feel a handful of snow smush against the side of your face.

"Get dunked on!" Frisk sings. You're surprised, but you also feel weirdly proud of them for getting the drop on you like that. Soon, they will be a master prankster, and then you'll have to watch your back. There will doubtlessly be a whole new slew of tricks you two can pull on each other now that you're in a relationship.

A deep belly laugh (and yeah, whatever, you don't have a belly, get over it) bursts out of you. Then, without warning, you leap up. Frisk squeals and runs for the door. You pretend to trip to give them time to put on their boots, and then you're out the door after them, ready for the snowball fight of your life.

Papyrus and Frisk ambush you-they were clearly planning all of this-and when you shoot magic-powered snowballs at them, they dive to duck behind their snow fort. You note that half of it is clearly Papyrus's work, and has a number of weak spots. You aim for them, but no, it's too late. They're too prepared.

You hear the onslaught of snowballs whistling toward your head just in time, and step deftly out of the way. You shake your head at your attackers, lifting your palms up to give them a sense of how unfazed you are by their weak attempts.

"missed me, missed me, now you gotta kiss me," you say.

You hear Frisk's giddy laugh from the corner of the fort. They were no doubt turning red right about now.

"ah-ha," you mutter, and with a swish of your hand a snowball flies up and sails in a perfect arc through the night air. You hear it smack against something, which is shortly followed by a surprised "Ack!" which lets you know you hit your mark. You can practically taste the victory.

Then, typically, you hear your brother's laugh behind you.

"NYEH HEH HEH!"

You try to dodge, but Papyrus knows your tricks. You look up and see a clever trap-a layer of blue and white bones hold a pile of snow bigger than yourself. You only see it for a second. In the next, the bones have given way and you find yourself buried under the snow that they held.

You're impressed by Papyrus's trap, though you're sure Frisk had something to do with it too. They had acted as a decoy, after all. They took a snowball for your brother.

You bust out of the snow, hands glowing with magic. Time to get serious.

You prepare a wave of snow-spears and note Papyrus's feet disappearing into the snow fort. Your smirk isn't even intentional this time.

The spears pierce the roof of the fort and you can hear their shrieks of terror mixed in with surprised laughter. They flee the now-compromised structure as you expected they would, and make a break for the line of trees at the edge of the yard. Too slow, you think.

You teleport over there and shoot a spray of snow at the two shapes hiding in the darkness. They don't react, despite the fact that your aim was true, and you step closer to see that you hit a Papyrus-shaped snowman and a Frisk-shaped one.

You're momentarily stunned by how well-planned this was. They . . . they really thought of everything.

Then another snowball hits you in the back of the head. You whip around and see your brother bouncing another snowball up and down in his hand.

Before he even tries to throw it, though, Frisk launches themself at you, tackling you into a snowbank.

"aw, no fair," you laugh.

"There is no 'fair' in love and war, Sans," Frisk says. They're seated atop you now, looking satisfied with their snowball fight expertise. You look up at them and fold your arms behind your head, waiting for them to realize what positions they were in. When they inevitably do, their face goes pink.

"I-Ice-skating tomorrow?" Frisk asks breathlessly. You nod once, laugh, and ruffle their hair. They scowl at you, but you know they secretly love it. The kid wears their heart on their freaking sleeve.

They get off you and give you a hand up. You brush the ridiculous amount of snow that's clumped on your clothing off and take their hand.

"come on," you tell them, and gesture to Papyrus as well. "that hot chocolate's probably not so hot anymore. we gotta reheat it."

They agree and follow you indoors. The flood of warmth and feelings of home make you sigh deeply. The hot chocolate is only slightly-warm chocolate now, so you do reheat it, and take it out to them with a lot more snacks.

The rest of the night is spent watching movies together and eating a whole box of graham crackers. Frisk falls asleep on your shoulder. You're too tired to carry them up to bed, so you sleepily decide to just crash here with them. Soon after, Pap falls asleep too, and begins snoring softly, his head slumped against his chest.

You close your eyes and allow yourself to feel happy. It's not so bad. Not at all, in fact.

It's nice.

.

.

.


End file.
